Hatchback News

Suzuki came under a brief volley of fire for its use of the ‘hybrid’ badge when it launched the current Suzuki Swift, a car with only mild-hybrid capability.

Honda could add a cheaper, smaller model to sit under the HR-V as part of its plans for growth in Australia.

Chinese carmakers like BYD are starting to take over market share globally and established players are starting to feel the crunch.

MG’s most affordable electric vehicle (EV) range in Australia will become a lot more complicated and cheaper next year.

MG is preparing its new cut-price EV.

Alfa Romeo is about to start deliveries of its first electric vehicle (EV) in Australia though it expects the hybrid version will outsell it.The Alfa Romeo Junior is the smallest car from the Italian carmaker since the tiny MiTo and Giulietta hatchbacks and locally it’s being offered with both mild-hybrid and all-electric powertrains.“We do foresee … the mild-hybrid is probably going to be the higher mix out of the two,” said Stellantis Australia Product Manager Bridget Thomson to CarsGuide.“ giving the options for people on both stages of their electrification journey. So probably more of the Ibrida (mild-hybrid), but definitely not discounting the Elettrica (electric).”Earlier this month Alfa Romeo confirmed the pricing and specifications for the local Junior line-up.While there are two powertrain options being offered, both are only available in a single, fully-loaded trim level.The Junior Ibrida (mild-hybrid) starts from $45,900 before on-roads costs, while the Junior Elettrica (electric) starts from $57,900 before on-road costs.In Ibrida form, the Junior is powered by a 1.2-litre turbocharged three-cylinder petrol engine running the Miller cycle which is augmented by a 48V mild-hybrid system featuring a 21kW electric motor integrated into the six-speed dual-clutch automatic transmission.Total system outputs are 107kW of power and 230Nm of torque. Alfa Romeo claims it can do the 0-100km/h sprint in 8.9 seconds and the top speed is 206km/h.The Junior Elettrica, on the other hand, is powered by a single, front-mounted electric motor producing 115kW of power and 260Nm of torque.Despite having more power and torque, it’s 0.1 seconds slower to 100km/h than the mild-hybrid version. It takes 9.0 seconds.The electric motor is fed by a 54kWh lithium-ion battery pack, which allows for a claimed 407km of range, according to WLTP testing.The battery pack can be DC fast-charged at rates up to 100kW, which allows for a 10 to 80 per cent charge in 30 minutes.As noted above, the Junior Ibrida and Elettrica are both fully loaded and share the exact same standard specifications.The only differences with the former is it has visible dual exhaust tailpipes and paddle shifters behind the steering wheel. The latter also picks up a Mode 3 AC charging cable as standard.Standard equipment includes 18-inch alloy wheels, matrix LED headlights, the 'Leggenda Scudetto' front grille, LED tail lights, two-tone black roof, hands-free power tailgate, dual 10.25-inch screens, wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, six-speaker sound system, wireless charger, black cloth and synthetic leather upholstery, heated front seats, and a six-way power adjustable driver’s seat.The only option beyond premium paint is a sunroof which costs an additional $1990.Alfa Romeo has been experiencing a sales slump in Australia so far in 2025. A total of 282 vehicles were sold in the first six months, down 24.0 per cent year-on-year.

Honda has revealed its latest new offering, a fully electric version of its N-One hatch.The retro-styled N-One has been a regular fixture of Honda’s Japanese domestic line-up since 2012, and the new electric version is designed to be the “Ideal EV for the Japanese market.”The boxy hatch, which is designed to fit into Japan’s strict Kei classification, is equipped with a large enough battery for a 270km driving range to the WLTC procedure, complete with vehicle-to-load and vehicle-to-home features.It maintains the combustion version’s retro exterior design (referencing Honda’s original N360 Kei car from the late 1960s) and has a very minimalistic and space-efficient interior design. Honda said the bonnet and the top of the instrument panel are lined up to improve visibility and accentuate the width of the car, while physical buttons and dials are intentionally maintained in the centre of the dash for ease of use.The N-One e’s bumpers are made from recycled materials discarded from other Hondas. In addition, a bio-resin is used for the dash cladding, and various plastics on the interior are made from recycled PET bottles. As a final touch, the floor carpet and insulation is made from recycled clothes sourced from Honda employees.Like other Kei-class vehicles, the exterior dimensions are small but the rear two seats offer enough room to seat adults, and they can also fold completely flush with the boot floor to maximise storage. The N-One e also scores the brand’s signature magic seats, which can fold up to the seat backs to suit taller objects.Full specifications, including elements like motor power, charging speed, and battery capacity  have yet to be revealed, but it would be unsurprising for them to match the related N-Van e which has already launched to the Japanese market.This would mean a 29.6kWh battery pack able to charge at 50kW on DC for a 30 minute charge time, or a 4.5 hour charge time on a 6kW AC connector. The vehicle-to-load or vehicle-to-home mode has a maximum  output of 1500W.The front-mounted electric motor in the N-Van is expected to be shared with the N-One e and produces just 47kW/162Nm. It features a single-pedal driving mode in both models.Sadly, despite it being built in right-hand drive, the N-One e is likely to remain a Japanese domestic market model. Strict safety standards and the cost to comply the cars for the Australian market generally make these models too expensive or otherwise uncompetitive.Mitsubishi recently evaluated bringing its equivalent EV, the eKX to Australia, but it shelved the idea after admitting that it would be “three star ANCAP or less” and that it was likely to cost more than $30,000 once the work had been completed to comply it for our market.Hyundai recently launched a compact electric city car, the Inster, which starts from $39,000, although it offers significantly more driving range, claimed at up to 327km, and has nearly double the electric motor output.BYD is also considering importing its affordable city-sized electric car, the Seagull, which could have a price-tag in the mid-$20k region.Honda is imminently set to announce new model plans for the Australian market, although its footprint has shrunk in recent years. Currently the Japanese brand offers the HR-V small SUV, ZR-V and CR-V mid-sizers, Civic hatch, and Accord sedan.

The Australasian New Car Assessment Program's (ANCAP) Chief Executive Officer Carla Hoorweg said criticism of its testing protocols was expected given how competitive our new car market now is.Hoorweg added criticism of ANCAP was arguably not just due to established manufacturers having to stump up for increased costs or decreased star ratings, but also because an increasing amount of new five-star ANCAP scores were being achieved by newcomers to the market from China, which were already putting price pressure on rivals.New cars built in China now account for the most new five-star ratings since 2023, accounting for 32 per cent of all new five-star rated models. In comparison, cars sourced from Japan and Germany have shrunk to 19 and 18 per cent respectively.82 per cent of cars put to the test from Japan have a five star rating, while 94 per cent of cars sourced from Germany have a five-star rating. Cars sourced from China are holding an 86 per cent five-star rating from 2023.“It’s disappointing because we know those brands can deliver five star products, so we hope they’re trying to bring those vehicles in. It is a competitive market though, so obviously they’re going to try to change the playing field. is one way they try to do that."The safety authority has been accused of effectively stopping manufacturers from bringing in more affordable cars or versions of cars built in markets with lower safety requirements due to its ever increasing safety standards, which Hoorweg agreed was a source of frustration for manufactures.“It’s true, they wouldn’t be as safe,” she said. “We exist to say, 'you can bring that ASEAN version, but it’s not as safe and it’s not what consumers expect'.”One recent notable example affected by both a potentially low ANCAP score and an increase to Australia’s base new-car safety standards in the Australian Design rules, is Mitsubishi’s ASX successor. If it weren't for ANCAP safety standards the hybrid XForce small SUV sold in right-hand drive for Thailand, Malaysia and Indonesia could have made it Down Under.Mitsubishi has been forced to import an ASX based on the Renault Captur from Europe, which will be much more expensive than the outgoing version. Mitsubishi cited high development costs to upgrade the XForce for ruling it out.Some new vehicles from Australia’s favourite brands, which have received less than five-stars in recent years, include the new Suzuki Swift that got one star due to poor crash performance. The Hyundai i30 sedan got three stars for the lack of advanced auto braking and blind spot monitoring as standard as well as poor vulnerable road user protection. The Mahindra Scorpio 4x4 and MG5 sedan that both scored zero stars for poor occupant protection and missing key active safety equipment.MG said it was able to bring its cars in at a lower price by not including all the required active safety equipment, while Mahindra argued its 4x4 comfortably met Australian Design Rules and was rated highly by the far more lenient Global NCAP, which focuses mainly on basic features and structural crash performance.MG brought a raft of upgrades to its MG5 a year after its 2023 launch, which resulted in a revised three-star rating.Hoorweg said some manufacturers would rather challenge the existence of ANCAP altogether, or criticise its messaging, as its increasingly harsh safety standards factor into these new model choices, but the reality is prices ultimately stabilise as companies package together various key technologies.“A lot of arguments get run, but there’s a lot of components which go into a vehicle and there’s a lot which goes into the cost of the car," said Hoorweg.“Safety is one element but what we see is the unit cost goes down, so when a new technology is coming through for the first time it has an expensive per unit cost but that decreases over time and things get bundled together so it decreases .“We’ve seen the real cost of a vehicle which factors in what you’re actually getting. The cost has stuck around $25,000 for a very long time, but what you’re actually getting is a lot more, so the real cost to the consumer has actually decreased. Manufacturers have actually done a great job of keeping those prices that low for a very long time, but we don’t want to see safety be the element that gets blamed for that ,” she said.Hoorweg noted calls to simply allow ratings to fall back to those from vehicle’s home countries or ratings out of Europe would result in some trying to take advantage of the lack of local standards.“There’s a huge opportunity to de-spec cars due to the differences between ADRs and European design rules,” she said.Hoorweg pointed to the Suzuki Swift as being a prime example of a car, which had alarming omissions in the specification delivered to Australia, that resulted in its one-star ANCAP score and three-star EuroNCAP score.Hoorweg added the language on five-star-or-nothing may have been softened a little, the body wouldn't back down on ratcheting standards up every few years, with a new framework starting in January 2026 focusing more heavily on driver assist systems and post-crash survivability."I think there’s enough consumer support and fleet support that there’s not much interest in dropping standards." she said.Even the Kia Tasman, which just received a five-star ANCAP rating was notable for the rating only applying to variants equipped with a unique bumper designed to maximise pedestrian safety. High-grade models likely to be popular with private buyers, like the top-spec off-road focused X-Pro are specifically excluded from the score.

Hyundai’s top brass has hinted at the imminent electrification of its performance N division, with a clear direction towards hybrid hot hatches and cheaper EVs.

There’s a new entry-level electric car on the way, according to reports from the UK, and it’s one that could set the sales charts alight.